FCC Prepares for DTV Complaints
FCC planning for rising complaints related to DTV transition.
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/25/2008 6:53:00 AM
The Federal Communications Commission is planning for rising complaints related to the digital-TV transition, including possible lawsuits against the commission, as well as for further media consolidation related to the costs of the switch-over to digital delivery.
The FCC isn't saying that all those things are a given -- just that it needs to be prepared if and when they happen.
That's according to a congressionally mandated strategic five-year plan the commission put out for comment Tuesday.
The agency said that among the factors that could impact its strategic goal of "the timely deployment of digital services" is further consolidation spurred by "ongoing changes in the methods of delivering news and entertainment" from the transition to digital delivery. The FCC pointed to increased upfront investments that won't see a return until the full rollout of digital.
And on the legal front, the commission pointed out that its latest media-ownership rules have been challenged in court. Given that Congress mandated "continued review" of those rules, there could be more challenges.
On top of that, it said, "Court challenges of FCC rules and policies to advance the DTV transition may also result."
The commission also wants to be prepared with enough people to handle DTV-related issues and complaints, should they arise in large numbers.
"The digital transition requires continuing education of FCC technical staff to maintain an up-to-date understanding of developments in communications technology," the agency said. "Moreover, to the extent the number of consumer complaints against broadcast stations continues to grow, the FCC must have sufficient personnel (e.g., attorneys and consumer-advocacy and mediation specialists) and technological resources to efficiently process such complaints in a timely manner."
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I live just outside Washington, DC and can only receive 2-3 digital channels after the switch in June. Wind, cars, clouds and movement of people cause the signal to go haywire. We had no problems with analog reception and now have to fight daily to watch simple TV. DTV has been a failure and a scam as far as I can tell.
Janet Colligan - 9/29/2009 9:32:58 PM EDT -
DTV is the biggest scam out there. i lost almost every channel. If a nation wide alert went out over the Tv broadcast, a good 90percent of people will never know what is going on till after the fact. I cannot afford a new HDTV unless they are giving a several hundred dollar coupon. Since i cannot watch tv i really hope all the networks go belly up and there ratings drop through the floor. Antenna does not matter for reception at all. Fix the problem or go back to the old way.
Daniel Raymond jr. - 9/21/2009 7:46:27 PM EDT -
We went from getting all our local channels before the switch to gettong ONLY 2 channels. We cannot afford satelite and theres NO cable in our rural area. Weve tried several antennia's but no luck. I am furious we are stuck with only 2 channels now. I think they should buy me a smart antennia to replace the channels they took from me because of this switch..
Lisa Ballmann - 8/22/2009 5:20:15 PM EDT -
And so the same bureaucrats who foisted this dtv scam on millions who went from free broadcast TV on many channels to receive virtually no reliable signal whatsoever on any channel are going to deliver us universal health care? Really?
D. S. Welch - 8/6/2009 7:16:36 PM EDT -
I lost network transmission from
Rochester NY. So I installed Dish Network. But they can't sell me Rochester TV Networks, because FCC rules
say Steuben County Ny, is not allowed to receive that
City. I am not allowed to have network TV.
Roy Mitchell - 7/14/2009 12:29:39 PM EDT
Happy Birthday, FCC?
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